This invention relates to cooling or heating apparatus to be used with suspended ceiling configurations in a home, office or other commercial or industrial buildings.
It has heretofore been known to mount relatively thin metal tiles in a suspended ceiling configuration of a room or space and to provide apparatus for cooling or heating such mounted tiles. The heating or cooling apparatus typically comprises straight tubes which run back and forth over the top surfaces of the tiles. The tubes usually contain flowing water having a regulated temperature sufficient to provide heat to or remove heat from the tiles so as to thereby maintain the tiles at a temperature sufficient to radiantly heat or cool the room.
It has been found that the thin tiles in such a suspended ceiling configuration do not necessarily remain flat. In particular, the tiles will tend to follow the curvature of the suspended ceiling as it flexes, bends or sags due to the weight of the tubes and other loads being carried by the suspended ceiling. This causes the ceiling tiles to lose contact with the straight tubes. This loss of contact significantly impacts the heat exchange between the tiles and the tubes.
Solutions to the above loss of contact have in the past included gluing or clipping the straight tubes to the thin metal tiles in as many places as possible so as to maintain contact between the straight tubes and the tiles. This has resulted in considerable strain being placed on the straight tubing as well as the glue, or clips holding the tubing to the tiles when the ceiling sags due to the weight being carried by the suspended ceiling.
It is an object of the invention to provide heating or cooling apparatus for a suspended ceiling that maintains contact with the suspended ceiling even when the ceiling does not remain flat.
It is another object of the invention to provide heating or cooling apparatus for a suspended ceiling that maintains contact with the suspended ceiling in a manner that minimizes any stress or strain on the cooling or heating apparatus if glued or bonded to the ceiling.
The above and other objects are achieved by providing a suspended ceiling with one or more ceiling tiles that are heated or cooled by a heat exchange fluid circulating through spiral shaped coils. The ceiling tiles are preferably thin pieces of perforated sheet metal fabricated from galvanized steel. The perforated sheet metal may be lined with an acoustical backing. Each spiral shaped coil is preferably flattened so as to provide a flat contact surface with the ceiling tile. The spiral shape allows the coil to maintain substantial contact with the ceiling tile when the ceiling tile flexes, bends or sags due to any flexing, bending or sagging of the suspended ceiling.
The outlet end of each spiral shaped coil is preferably connected by a flexible hose coupling to the inlet end of an adjacent spiral shaped coil so as to form a series of successively connected spiral shaped coils associated with respective ceiling tiles. The inlet of the first spiral shaped coil is furthermore connected to a heat exchange fluid supply pipe whereas the outlet of the last spiral shaped coil is connected to a heat exchange fluid return pipe.